Far From Revered
by luey
Summary: /AU/   There is a secret world of mages all over the world, the underground crime syndicates of the time. This is world the young members of Fairy Tail grow up in, where they learn to trust in only their friends and develop the bonds of friendship.
1. Introductory Assembly

_Title:_** Far From Revered**

_Full Summary:__ There is a secret world of mages all over the world, the underground crime syndicates of the time. In Magnolia Town, the mages hide under the ruse of Fairy Academy, the most renowned private school in Fiore. This is world the young members of Fairy Tail grow up in, where they learn to trust in only their friends and develop the bonds of friendship, as a creeping darkness slowly threatens all that they hold near._

_Pairings:__ Through the perspective of LevyxGajeel.  
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_Disclaimer:__ The first two chapters are "setting chapters," to fully develop the details for future reference. If you want to skip, then onto the next chapter you go.  
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><p><strong>Far From Revered<strong>

by Luey

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><p><em>Chapter One<em> - "Introductory Assembly"

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><p>Welcome to Fairy Academy, the most prestigious school in all of Fiore.<p>

The large campus is situated perfectly at the edge of Magnolia Town, its three-story buildings towering lazily over the other citizens. Walking along pleasantly gray cobblestone walkways that lead up to (and snake through) the campus, students are led up to the swirling designs of double-wrought-iron gates, which are only open to students and faculty members.

Passing the decorous gates, students will then be able to see that they open into a friendly, lush courtyard. Behind the trees and the well kempt grass and bushes, the main building comes into view. It is a large rectangular building, its main face featuring a face clock with the school's insignia, painted in a blazing red, overhead.

Despite Fairy Academy's large size, looking upon its slightly-peachy painted walls one assumes that the whole facility is a frankly unpresuming building structure. And perhaps that works well in the school's favor, for it holds a deep secret.

Although the Academy accepts students anywhere from primary to tertiary education levels, about one hundred of these students participate in "extracurricular activities," which are highly dangerous and ultimately scandalous.

For, you see, these students possess the uncanny ability to perform magic. Identities of the magic users—or rather, "mages"—are kept secret to avoid a general public outcry. Because every citizen in Fiore is aware of magic and its highly destructive tendencies, they fear for their own safety. And for their own peace of mind, their idea of a basic mage is at least an adult.

Far be it for schools to come out and say _children_ are risking their lives, schools have become something like the organized crime syndicates of the day. "Guild Members," as the young mages are called, take on various jobs that call upon ability users. These jobs, posted on a request board in the main hall of the guild, are requested by a number of people.

Many jobs, however, are taken under the pretense of being a "mage-in-training" (a half-truth, really) needing experience. Should younger mages desire to take on a more dangerous mission, he or she would take care and use a cloaking devise to hide his or her true age.

The payment for each request job taken is usually in the form of monetary payment. Though the majority of the payment is used for school dues, it is expected that the members of guild stay a lifelong member and contribute to various activities throughout his or her lifetime.

And the members of the Guild, suitably named "Fairy Tail," feel no qualms about their beloved guild.

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><p>The old man stood on the roof, smiling wryly to himself. His arms were crossed over the fencing, his chin resting lazily on his right forearm. It was a new school year, and he watched the new students slowly trickle into the main building, occasionally chuckling at the disgruntled faces of those who were forced to wake up for school that started <em>way<em> too early.

(It actually started at eight o'clock, which happened to be a regular time for school to start, really. These particular students had been woken up an hour early by their mothers who wanted them at school as early as possible.)

There was a faint _click_ as the steel door leading up to the roof opened, yet he didn't have to turn around to know who it was. Only two people besides himself arrived at school early enough to be fully awake and functioning by seven in the morning. At least that's what the young woman placated the man with, knowing full well that he liked to owe his "sixth sense" to his "supertastic magic skills." In those exact words.

Mirajane smiled as she walked up to the man, who was standing up on a large wooden crate in order to reach the top of the fence. Though she was old enough to be going on to the college level at Fairy Academy, she chose to forgo her future of being a professional mage or any other profession. Instead, she decided to fill the position of Secretary-Treasurer, as well as taking over the duties of a MIA vice-principal.

"Good morning, Principal," she greeted cheerfully. Really, she felt that she _had_ to be cheerful. It was in her best interest to keep the spirits up at the school. No, it was to keep up the spirits of Fairy Tail. Sure, the secret guild was usually a large bunch of rowdy and rambunctious school kids, and it was hard to get them down. But a lot _had_ happened during the summer, and any sadness would bring about an unforgivable and uncharacteristic lull in the Guild.

Several things seemed to happen at once, or at least with quick succession. It all started with the destruction of their home, the secret Fairy Tail base. (But that's another story.) Then, previous vice principal, the potential successor to the Principal title, Laxus Dreyvar was lost. Mirajane still knew the Principal harbored the secret desire to un-banish his only grandson from the school and the guild.

Every other candidate, including herself, had proved too young to take on the now vacant responsibility. Still, the guild was livelier than ever, now, with a few new additions to the memberships to counteract the tremendous losses. (Including two talking cats, which was certainly a plus!)

The master of Fairy Tail looked up and grinned enthusiastically. "Good morning, Mirajane. It's a good time to start the school year, eh?"


	2. Startled Reverie

**Far From Revered**

by Luey

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><p><em>Chapter Two<em> - "Startled Reverie"

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><p>The clock thundered seven times, signaling for the rest of the town to awaken. The low notes rumbled throughout town, startling the stragglers out of bed, for several seconds. Nearby pigeons, still unused to the interruption (despite their numerously languid days loitering about the clock tower) flew away in a jumbled frenzy.<p>

Startled out of her reverie, Levy McGarden jumped several centimeters up in her seat. Disgruntled, she looked up over her book, mentally chastising herself for being scared of loud noises. In that respect, she mused to herself, she was just like those pigeons. Levy sighed.

She didn't want to be a pigeon, really.

Suddenly, she heard a stifled laugh escape from somewhere nearby. Her eyes wide with embarrassment, the blue-haired teen looked around, swiveling her head around several times, to search for the noise. She could feel a blush creeping up her neck.

Who could it be? Out of the whole population of Fairy Academy, Levy was the second earliest body to arrive on campus, the first one being the ever dedicated Mirajane. She checked her watch, though Levy was perfectly situated to look up at the clock tower any time she pleased. (Watches were more practical anyway.)

Forgetting that the clock tower had rung but not one minute ago, in her vaguely frenzied state, Levy registered that her watch told her what she should have deduced in the first place: no living person should be awake at this hour except herself and Mirajane, and maybe the Principal. (He tended to sleep in on the most in opportune of days, unless it was _really_ important.)

Clearing her throat in what she hoped was a blithe manner, Levy tried to force down her embarrassment and her blush. Nestling closer into her hiding space, she reluctantly lowered her head into her book again. She shuddered, still feeling someone's eyes on her.

Levy McGarden, was seventeen, and finally a senior of Fairy Academy. And yet she still chose to hide in her comfortable niche instead. (It was a very nice one, actually. She had "built" an alcove some time before, even putting in the effort to bring in a nice chair in from home, which she situated under her favorite tree. Said tree was one among many in the dense forest of greenery in front of the school.) The young woman sighed again, this time out of self deprecation.

In other times, it would have been humorous. But this time, Levy was terribly aware of her inadequacies, finding that she contrasted greatly with the very idea of a grand senior ready to rule the campus. After about eight years in the "system" as an underling, Levy was finally coming into her rightful inheritance to rule some underlings of her own.

Well, that wasn't about to come into fruition for several reasons. One of them being that she was so _woefully_ small in stature. Over the years, Levy wavered between being 5'1 and 5'2. Last year, thankfully, Levy settled in on being the latter. She wouldn't have minded if her best friends weren't 5'8. Even her female friends were at the very least 5'3 or 5'4. The teen grimaced into the pages of her novel. And speaking of _female_ friends, Levy was certainly lacking in a _certain_ area as well. She looked down at her chest. At least they were _there_ and not _nonexistent_.

Levy let out a yelp as a leaf fluttered down the back of her collared shirt, scrambling to get it out as fast as possible. Looking up and squinting malignantly, Levy sighed again, realizing that she shouldn't take her frustration out on the foliage's natural tendencies.

"I'm going to lose all my luck at this rate," she thought to herself in self jest.

By this time, which was rapidly dwindling due to Levy's musings, the teen overheard an argument. Looking over her shoulder and spotting Jet and Droy, her two best friend, she waved for them to come over. Her hand hung in midair though, as she realized that even they, who were like her brothers, did not know about her secret hiding space.

Wildly climbing over various piles of books, and remembering to weave some script to hide her second home as she left, she scrambled over to her confidants. If they were close before, which they sort of were, after the events of the summer, they were even closer than before. (Which really meant that Jet and Droy were even more protective of their leader.)

"Jet! Droy!" she called as she ran up to them, smiling. It was unusual, even for them, to follow Levy around so early in the morning. Usually, all three met at their usual meeting place, a slightly dilapidated lunch bench/picnic table fiasco. Still, it was right next to the campus library, which cinched the whole pickiness from the two males.

"Levy!" they greeted in unison. "Good morning!"

"What are you doing here so early?"

"Oh…nothing," Droy answered. He glanced over at his best friend and rival-in-love and glared.

The object of their affections sighed. That usually meant they were arguing about something, which probably meant that she _had_ heard them earlier. Really, it was too early in the morning to be shouting over something insignificant.

For a while, after _that_ happened, Jet and Droy were more on edge than anyone else. Levy was constantly terrified for a few weeks, but that eventually subsided to a great degree. However, Jet and Droy seemed to argue a lot more than before, even about the smallest of things, finally culminating right at the start of the rumored coup d'état by their former vice president. (Only guild members knew about the truth about that event, of course.)

Thankfully though, after that violent episode, Jet and Droy slowly slipped into their old routine again, though the air _was_ randomly punctuated with needless argument. That was normal though, Levy acknowledged, unconsciously rubbing her hand over a scar. It was the place where hot metal cut through her skin, which didn't completely heal.

Speaking of which, Levy saw a flurry of wings overhead, finally seeing a mess of tussled onyx hair bumble onto campus. It was Gajeel Redfox who was just passing through the gates, his gait speaking volumes about his attitude, the young man who inflicted those same scars. Levy bit back an involuntary shudder and her receptive eyes saw that his red ones flickered over to her way for a brief second.

"Did I just imagine that?" Levy thought to herself. She looked back to Jet and Droy who were following her every move, tracing her gaze.

"Levy," Jet murmured in a low warning. They had accepted Gajeel's presence after their confrontation, but that didn't mean that he and Droy liked him.

"Yeah," Levy said quietly, her gaze still following Gajeel's retreating figure. She looked up at her trusted friends, knowing full well what she was about to tell them. "But I just can't bring myself to hate him, you know?"

Jet's gaze softened, and Droy grinned.

"You're just too kind for your own good, Levy," Droy said enthusiastically.

Jet joined in happily, saying, "Just like our Levy!"

"I can be _quite_ mean if I wanted to you know!" Levy huffed angrily.

Her friends exchanged a look and burst out laughing, shaking their heads.

Laughing, Levy playfully smacked each of their arms before the trio finally began their usual trek to their table. Levy smiled to herself as she listened to Droy recite and anecdote about a new plant he encountered. She was glad to be able to spend quality time with her friends, valuing their time together more than ever.

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><p><em><span>Author's Note:<span>_ Eep, it's a slow start! :O Please R/R, to tell me what you think of it so far, and what you would like to see in the future! :D


	3. Dressing Down

**Far From Revered**

by Luey

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><p><em>Chapter Three<em>- "Dressing Down"

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><p>"You're quite the popular one, aren't you, Gajeel?" A small smile tugged at Pantherlily's lips.<p>

The young man grimaced, fighting the urge to rub his temples. "Shut up, cat." Oh how he _hated_ freshman brats. And he couldn't even _hit_ any of them because

a) he would get punished, and

b) magic users, in general, _did not_ attack "normies."

If anything else, Gajeel retained his code of honor as a mage of Fairy Tail; he would force whoever went against that to endure centuries of pain, including himself.

The scantly worded conversation had been progressing at a leisurely pace for quite some time. It _is_ important to note, though, that Gajeel's responses hardly changed during the whole five minutes he and the Exceed had been talking.

Today's subject of interest had, in fact, been Gajeel, much to the Dragon Slayer's chagrin. As he sauntered lazily onto school grounds from the boys' dormitory, he had been met with a barrage of freshman quips, none of them quite flattering, which continued as Gajeel tried to make it to his first class.

"What's with that hair?"

"I-Is he in a gang? H-he looks like a Y-yankee!" The cat and the disgruntled human heard a whimper and a mad dash to escape the perimeter.

"That's a lot of piercings…"

"Look at those pan—Wait, are those _staples_ in his uniform?"

Gajeel couldn't help stealing a glance at his assigned clothing. And, lo and behold, it was now that Gajeel saw said infamous staples along the inseams of his black pants. He inwardly shrugged, accepting their existence; he wasn't a master seamster, anyhow. He had grown so used to metal all over his body during the course of his lifetime that he really didn't mind more, especially in the form of staples on his pants. (Besides, he thought the large staples made him look _cool_ and _rebellious._)

It completed his raggedy look, actually. He hooked two fingers onto the neck his black blazer, hanging it lazily over his shoulder, the handle of his school bag grasped tightly in his left hand. His white, collared shirt was tucked out of the belt and the first couple buttons were undone. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows, and the whole thing looked worn and a burnt. (He had the stupid Salamander to thank for that. Seriously, he didn't need to _spew _copious amount of fire every damn time he got excited.)

The school-regulated, fire red tie was worn loose under the collar, hanging down at an odd angle. To top it off, his dress pants were tucked into black, leather combat boots that reached up to his mid-calf. Clearly he didn't feel the need to keep clothes in good shape nor keep with the dress code. The young man was constantly reprimanded by teachers so much in the short time he'd been at Fairy Academy that they simply gave up and let him alone.

The only people who didn't seem to care that didn't seem to care how the hell he dressed were the people in Fairy Tail. But then again, everyone in it dressed weird too. If it was any consolation, the idiot stripper hardly wore any clothes at all. On second thought, it wasn't. Girls, namely his friend Juvia, tended to fawn all over him. Damn it, the whole thing was stupid anyway.

Needless to say, Gajeel Redfox was not amused. His eye was twitching, which didn't really help his image at all. (Really, he looked scary enough without the involuntary eye movements.) People were too terrified of Gajeel to even beging cooing over a random cat walking through the hallways.

"Perfect for the lucky woman who gets to take home to mummy and daddy, eh?"

There was more eye twitching. "What did I say about shutting up!" Gajeel roared, breaking the duo's "silence."

Subsequently, it led several freshman girls to tear up. To them, it sounded like the older man had randomly started shouting and was getting himself riled up enough to hit something—or someone. (Hopefully not some_one_, i.e. _them_.)

Gajeel let out a huge, disgruntled sigh. It was too damn early in the morning to put up with this kind of crap, much less from his cat. He was already in a bad mood from something that had nothing to do with insipid pipsqueaks.

Gajeel Redfox, twenty years of age, was in his second year of college at Fairy Academy. _And yet_ he was stuck in the goddamn High School section of the school for his first class. Grinding his teeth angrily, he remembered how Makarov took considerable pains (au Gajeel, of course) to schedule him as a Teacher's Assistant for an "Introduction to High School" class. That meant, for a terribly long hour, Gajeel was meant to suffer with freshman brats who didn't know a _single damned thing_ about the way High School was run.

Pantherlily looked up. "That's bad for your teeth, you know," he murmured quietly.

Gajeel glared. "Shut up, cat."

The black cat was adamant that he be taken to school, stating that he was intrigued about how Earthland schools were run. Gajeel, on the other hand, was already sick of it. Four months ago, he and Juvia had undergone a _very_ late, forced transfer.

They was Phantom Preparatory School for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents. ("PP" for short, but no one used it.) It was another secret school that harbored student mages, but it had inadvertently gotten destroyed in a full blown battle that Gajeel had, admittedly, started. Even now he still felt a constant wracking guilt for destroying a guild he now loved beyond reason. (Not that he would admit that to a comrade's face.)

But now, life was that much better. It was a rocky first month, but he and Juvia had three months of summer to bond with Fairy Tail. In reality that just meant more battles, since things just seemed to keep happening to Fairy Tail, to prove their unyielding loyalty.

Too bad Juvia seemed to be getting along with the guild more than he had been.

Gajeel sighed again.

"You know there's a saying about sighing? If you keep doing so, you'll lose all your luck."

Pantherlily chuckled as Gajeel let out a snarl. The raven haired man couldn't wait for Calculus BC in the _College Wing_. Most of the strongest mages of Fairy Tail studied as college students, which was where he belonged.

"Not that school is of any interest anyway," he told himself, snorting derisively.

(But that's not true. Gajeel was secretly proud that he was a whiz at math. As the Iron Dragon Slayer, he tended to use his free time and skills building random things, which utilized math. And physics. But that's another story to be told at a later time.)

They walked into the classroom ten minutes early, only to hear a squeak. Gajeel looked confusedly around, expecting a freshman. Instead, he and his cat were met with a blue-haired senior of Fairy Academy. The young man fought down a shudder of guilt as memories of wounded flesh flashed through his brain.

"G-gajeel?" Levy exclaimed, surprised.

Gajeel let out a smirk. "What brings you about these parts, bookworm?"

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><p><strong><em>Note:<em>** Was this a bit wordy? D: Erg, please R/R for pointers? orz


	4. Abrupt Changes

**A/N:** _Hello everyone! :D Since this is a long chapter, I wanted to put the author's note up front._

_Thank you so much to all of you who have read, reviewed, +Alert'd, and/or +Fave'd this story! It makes me feel all bubbly and flattered inside, and I just want to say that I appreciate your support. Tee hee. * u *_

_IMPORTANT!: This latter portions of this chapter has been severely revamped; if you haven't read the second draft yet, please do so. :)_

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><p><strong>Far From Revered<strong>

by Luey

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><p><em>Chapter Four<em>- "Abrupt Changes"

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><p>It was now about forty minutes before the first class. The trio, having just arrived at their table by the library, hastily compared class schedules to see if they shared any. After scrutinizing the three papers thoroughly however, Jet was heartbroken. He sat in a corner by himself, lamenting the fact that he would only have AP Calculus BC with Levy. That wouldn't have been so bad, except the fact that Droy would be there as well.<p>

"Killing my mojo," he commented. Droy didn't looked too pleased either.

Yet two milliseconds later, Droy's countenance completely turned around. He even started celebrating as he discovered that he would be able to share first period Organic Chemistry with Levy. Most importantly, it would be without Jet, who was taking Physics BC two rooms down. In the matters of love, even the best of friendships was of no consequence.

Meanwhile, Levy sat on her own side of the table, a strange and unreadable smiled plastered all over her face. Sometimes, she just didn't know how to deal with her friends.

"It's okay Jet," Levy said comfortingly. Clearly she didn't fully understand why her best friends were acting this way. "We still have lunch together!"

In response, the ginger teen slumped further into his corner.

"Yeah, Jet!" Droy interjected cheerfully. "Lunch!"

Jet looked up, a murderous glare in his eyes. Then they started arguing about who knows what. Levy thought she heard something along the lines of "First you make fun of the hat, and now this?" in there somewhere, but everything became a cloud of fists and angry words so quickly that she couldn't be sure. (Said hat, though, miraculously remained on Jet's head throughout the entire scuffle.)

Levy sighed as she looked down at her schedule. "Room H-126 for Organic Chemistry…" she murmured to herself.

Levy gave a light shudder; she had actually wanted to take AP Biology, but the class had filled up too quickly before she had gotten a chance to enroll. Really, she wasn't looking forward to O-Chem at all. She only signed up for the class because Droy seemed so excited about it.

"Droy, I think that I might drop first period…" Levy murmured aloud. She rested her chin in the palm of her hand, elbow propped up on the table. The teen hesitated, knowing that it meant something to Droy to have a period together. "What do you think?"

In the midst of all the fighting, Droy looked up. Jet's hand was gripped tightly around his chin, distorting the shape of his open mouth. "Brugh?"

"Is that okay?" Levy asked plaintively.

"Um…" Droy hadn't been listening. But neither had Jet, so when Droy looked at his best friend for the answer, the former could only shrug. "Sure?"

The blue-haired girl smiled brilliantly. "I'm so glad! I'll stop by the Main Office right now to change my schedule!"

"Levy, what are you talking about?"Jet asked. He and Droy exchanged a glance.

She ignored a slight twitch from her left eye. Levy reasoned that Jet probably wasn't listening, but surely Droy would have. After all, both were usually quite attentive, especially if she said one of their names. (She didn't understand why, but she accepted it as a fact, regardless.) After glancing at her watch, Levy started gathering her things.

"I'm dropping O-Chem," she said, now resolute after getting the "OK" from Droy. "I didn't really want to take it in the first place, but I was worried about hurting Droy if I didn't take it with him. Then he said it was okay."

Droy looked like he was about to tear up; his advantage over Jet was lost.

"Oh, _of course_!" Jet said with a smirk plastered over his face. "Go for it, Levs."

This time, it was Droy who looked murderously at Jet.

"Oh, _shut up_," Droy snarled, mocking Jet's previous statement, before pouncing angrily on his best friend.

Laughing awkwardly, Levy stood up with her bag in tow. Not knowing how to deal with the situation any longer, Levy slipped away, hoping the two wouldn't notice. (They didn't.)

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><p>Walking briskly out of the Main Office with twenty minutes to spare, Levy was strangely excited about her new class schedule, no longer weighed down at the prospect of taking the dreaded science class. So enthralled by the change was the Solid Script mage, she was now able to overlook the fact that she had to fit a ten minute walk from one classroom to the next in the five minutes allotted. In fact, Levy had move swiftly from a third floor classroom to another one on a different building.<p>

Still, Levy concluded (convinced herself, rather) that she had ample time during the passing period to get from her new first period classroom to her second. There was a spring in her step now; it was one of the best things that had happened to her in a while.

During her freshman year at Fairy Academy, Levy had made a life changing decision. She had just transferred from another school at the time, with Jet and Droy. Remembering how little she thought of the lackluster students, who thought the whole of the English language was stupid, Levy McGarden decided that she wanted better for herself and enrolled herself in the Honors English Program.

She had been nervous at first; the program was renowned to be frighteningly rigorous, the course descriptions already promising weekly in-class essays and abundant reading material. In truth, Levy regretted signing up almost immediately afterwards, scared that she would be unable to cope with the load. But one person had changed her whole outlook.

There had been an introductory meeting for the incoming students. Really, it was to get all the "formalities" out of the way, so it wouldn't cut into actual class time; everyone received the summer assignments as well as the course syllabus, and a "Let's get to know each other!" game to get everyone acquainted and accustomed to each other. Everyone in that room knew that it was practically useless, except for Levy. Either the teacher didn't realize that the students had been classmates for years, following each other through all of the advanced classes, with hardly a change in the line-up, or he was trying to accommodate the new girl. (Somehow it was still fun.)

Levy remembered how there were only fifteen other people in the room; all of them with a steely look in their eyes even though they were chatting amiably amongst friends. She had shuddered, worried about fitting in with the long-established group of friends, and already feeling miles behind everyone else.

_Shouldn't I have that look too, if I want to work on this level?_

_It's lonely without Jet and Droy._

_What if I'm not good enough?_

Then one person changed Levy's whole disposition.

As the mock class continued, Levy realized how fun the class could be, all because of her teacher. He was goofy and serious about his subject matter at the same time, severely enthused by all the literary genius of authors long past, the gentle subtleties of words and symbols and metaphors and all that. He was simply excited beyond belief to impart his knowledge and enthusiasm about writing onto his students, and unfathomably so.

Most importantly, he had this honest and interested look about him as he listened to one of his students speak, as if he truly wanted to hear their thoughts. (It was a seriously self-esteem boost.) Even better, the students were excited to participate in the exchange of knowledge.

Never before had the blue-haired teen been able to thank him; now, as his Teacher's Assistant, Levy had a whole year to try.

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><p>She arrived in five minutes, taking the opportune seat nearest the classroom library.<p>

There was no one else in the room so she had her book open; but like the morning funk she was in, she couldn't bring herself to fully concentrate on the text. Without her friends or the guild to distract her from her constant thinking, Levy was prey to her own thoughts, which annoyed her because it also kept her from reading.

But now, Levy had thousands of butterflies in her stomach, her mind whirring at a hundred miles per hour from uncontrolled nervousness. She was relishing in glee from being back in the familiar room,running through various fantastical situations about how she would introduce herself to her teacher, how he would react, and so on.

But Levy's musings were soon ended.

It was because Gajeel, the big Dragon Slayer, entered with his cat. It certainly put a stop to her train of thought, preventing her from forming coherent sentences.

"What are you doing here?" Gajeel wondered. "Last time I checked, you weren't a brat."

"B-Brat?" Levy squeaked.

"He means those in the lowest level of high school," Pantherlily offered helpfully.

Levy had only known the black cat for a week or so, but she had already warmed to him. Not only was he super adorable, he had a certain air about him that Levy liked.

"Freshmeat," Gajeel grumbled. He looked back at Levy. "You never answered my question."

"U-uh," Levy started. Evidently, she was still trying to get over seeing Gajeel the first thing in the morning. "I have a free period this year, so I chose to TA. The teacher here was my English teacher for my freshman year."

Who could blame her for being so shocked? True, she was still twenty-five percent terrified of Gajeel, but Levy dismissed that as a good reason. The fact of the matter was that this conversation had been the longest one that they shared to date. Every time they passed each other in the guild, all Levy had managed was a shy smile and/or a little wave. Gajeel wasn't much better; he either gave a small nod or a grunt in acknowledgement. Any and all conversations usually started with "So…the weather, eh?" and ended with "Yeah, the food in the cafeteria could be better."

But owing to their past history, their short-lived exchanges had been a significant improvement from a pained look from Gajeel as Levy hid behind a table. Levy had acknowledged how hard Gajeel was trying for the guild, trying to get along with the others. So, she was determined to be friends with him too. Somehow, she was glad that everyone had sort-of accepted him as a friend; it would have been too sad to live without friends, especially in Fairy Tail, who had a reputation for being overly amorous.

Gajeel cracked a smile. (But it looked like a smirk, so it was pretty much ineffectual.) "Really? I'm a TA for the geezer too. The Master assigned him to me a couple of weeks ago."

There was a pause.

"He's not a geezer, Gajeel," Levy said, frowning.

"Gihihi," he chuckled, taking a seat across from her. He turned himself around his chair, legs situated rebelliously on either side of the blue plastic. "We'll see."


	5. Controlling Reflexes

**A/N:** _Sorry to be a bother at the start of another chapter, but this is important! (Again. OTL)_

_I just severely revamped the last chapter, or at least the latter portions. If you read the first draft, I would encourage you to reread it. The continuity from the last to this chapter is the same, and the information will come back sooner or later in one form or another, so technically you don't have to. But still. :' _

_Oh, and thank you guys again for the continuing support. It makes me feel like Garfield on a Friday. :D_

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><p><strong>Far From Revered<strong>

by Luey

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><p><em>Chapter Five<em>- "Controlling Reflexes"

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><p>Pantherlily blinked. Sometimes, his human was hard to understand.<p>

"Is he actually attempting to reign in his irritation?" he thought incredulously.

Simply said, mornings did not agree with Gajeel. He would groan ignore Lily's attempts to rouse him, preferring to stay stuck in his bed like a cold lump of metal. (He really was cold. Gajeel tended to kick off his blankets in the night, chilling him quite thoroughly by morning.) So not only was he cold, the Dragon Slayer was grumpy. He always felt like he could sleep for days, especially in during the winter, and never seemed to get enough of it.

For Lily, who tended to wake up an hour before Gajeel to do his fitness exercises, Gajeel's love of sleep was unfathomable. So, the cat took to waking up Gajeel one hour before school, schlepping him off to the peach painted halls so he would be on time. (Punctuality along with a nicely scheduled plan was held high in the ex-commander's regards.)

He looked at Levy, who probably didn't know that there was a slight blush coloring her cheeks. The Exceed considered her; they had met only once before, but he already took a liking to her, if only because she was one of the quietest people in the guild. Lily took her to be quite effervescent individual, too, and now she was sitting in a chair and biting her lower lip nervously.

Then there was his human to consider, who was also acting weird.

Should he say anything? It wasn't his place.

"What are my duties as a Dragon Slayer's cat, _anyway_?" Lily mumbled, disgruntled. Certainly it didn't include "Dispelling Awkward Conversations and/or Situations." But then again, he didn't think he needed to wake Gajeel up every morning either.

Gajeel had been looking around the room, specifically at everything else except Levy, trying especially hard not to meet her eyes. (Lily duly noted this, knowing Gajeel would have chatted/glared at/fought with/chased around the room anyone else.) He caught the frown his cat was sporting and grinned, giving Pantherlily an affectionate pat on the head. The cat looked up at his human, clearly less amused than before.

Levy caught Pantherlily's glance, and gave him a sympathetic look. He nodded in affirmation. Though he had warmed considerably to his smaller form, he didn't care to be belittled. Gajeel was an exception, but only sometimes. This was not one of those times; Lily was too confused and irritated at said confusion to be a proper cat at the moment.

Then the unfortunate thing happened. Gajeel had unsettled something Lily's jet black fur, and it tickled the cat's muzzle. Then Pantherlily gave a very catlike—and a frighteningly cute—sneeze. He blinked several more times, somehow unable to process what had just happened. Lily's head shot up as he heard a gargled noise come out of Levy's throat.

Levy was obviously trying not to smile, but it was evident that a wide grin had already split across her face, which she was now trying to contain; even pinching her lips together seemed to take effort. Pantherlily surmised that the now starry-eyed girl was trying her best to keep herself from saying "Awwww!" and leap from her seat to hug him senseless.

Gajeel just sat in his seat, his smile growing impossibly bigger.

The embarrassed cat silently thanked Levy for considering his feelings, and sighed. His thoughts towards Gajeel, however, were anything but genteel. But this was an opportunity to dispel the blue lines of awkward in the room, so…

"Go ahead," he said resignedly.

Knowing what he meant, Levy started biting her lip again. But she couldn't keep the glee from entering her voice. "Y-you sure, Lily?"

Lily gave a sigh—which was also cute—and nodded. He winced as Gajeel's whole body shook with laughter; obviously, the giant hulk of a man hadn't thought that his cat would be cuddled, conveniently forgetting that he had done the same numerous times before.

And whenever he was asked about it in the future, Lily would swear that he heard Levy exclaim "Yay!" while rushing him with a bear hug. No one would believe him because it took Levy milliseconds to cross the guild hall to hug someone or get a book, and no one who could move that fast would waste energy by speaking. (Jet attested to this every time Pantherlily denied it.)

"So cute!" Levy said, excitedly. She petted his surprisingly soft fur gently.

After a few seconds, Lily blinked. In the back of his mind, he acknowledged that he was being a little slow this morning, but he waved it off. The pressing issue at that moment was that Pantherlily, the usually stoic ex-commander, was slowly coming to the realization that he liked hugs. Still, he had his pride—he refused to nestle further in Levy's arms. A small smile tugged at the cat's mouth.

"These hugs are much more comfortable," he thought.

Gajeel's hugs were warmer, but that was because his bulky form and large muscles gave off massive amounts of body heat. (That actually might have been because of Gajeel's Dragon-like nature, but Pantherlily didn't know that.) Plus, Gajeel's body was hardened from the numerous fights he had been in. Levy was warm in a different way, and much softer too.

For a few seconds—which might have been several minutes, for all they knew—there was a companionable, comfortable silence among the three.

The fluffy atmosphere quickly dissipated for the Exceed as his ears twitched, picking up a noise outside the room. Taking that as his cue, Pantherlily wrestled himself out of Levy's astonishingly strong grasp and made his way towards the window.

"Gajeel, don't forget that you have an appointment at the guild afterschool," Lily said as he went out. "Good to see you again, Levy."

The Dragon Slayer barked out a response that the cat took to be an affirmation. Knowing Gajeel, it probably was. Despite his rough-and-tumble nature, the man was surprisingly willing to adhere to rules, unless there was a fight.

"B-bye!" Levy exclaimed, still a little pink and unsettled from the cuteness of it all.

Raising a paw goodbye, Pantherlily quickly flew out the window into a nearby tree to avoid detection from anyone above or below. If anyone was watching, they would have thought the cat a crow. Members of Fairy Tail were used to casting spells to avoid detection, especially in public. (Unless you were with Gajeel, of course. His shocking appearance would generally mask anything else, at least for a little while.)

Back in the room, Gajeel chuckled to himself. "That's my cat," he said proudly, as if he were a parent.

Levy nodded, reluctantly easing herself back into her seat. For the first time in her life, Levy McGarden didn't want to spend her extra money on books. At the moment, what she really wanted was a cat. _Maybe Gajeel would let me borrow his…_

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><p>"He has a cute side to him after all," Happy thought aloud.<p>

"I guess," Charle sniffed in response.

Like with Levy, it was obvious that both cats were oddly charmed by this alleged "cute side" of Pantherlily. And speak of the devil, as the two were discussing their new companion, Gajeel's cat swooped in at an angle, agilely landing on the branch his fellow cats were resting upon. His wings dissipated as he glanced around.

"What?" he asked, slightly put off by the odd stares his fellow Exceed were giving him.

"Nothing!" Happy exclaimed, an even weirder look coming onto his face. He looked up and away from Lily, his eyes wide with…something Lily couldn't place.

Lily blinked, waving the occasion off in his mind. (He seemed to do this often with these two.) If anything, he sure didn't have to deal with cats like Happy when he was still a commander.

Like all cats of Fairy Tail, they "belonged" to their respective Dragon Slayer, though there were only three of each type. Though it is important to note that Gajeel had been pointedly cat-less for a while after he had joined the guild. He hadn't noticed it before; but after another exciting adventure that led Charle and her human to join the guild, that changed.

Luckily for Gajeel, he had joined an ever-active guild that seemed to have adventures whether the members wanted them or not—and the majority of the guild does—which was how he had happened upon his cat. It had been a routine mission for one of the more inexperienced members, which led to the inadvertent discovery of a giant city in the sky. After several happen-chances, the whole guild was involved in a civil war among the clouds.

The city was a frightful mirror of a more dangerous Earthland; oppressed people wanted to battle against the reigning power, the Exceeds. The people possessed a strange magic, much more advanced than the people on Earthland; technology was in the hands of the people, but they wanted more, and they thought the key was in defeating the Exceeds.

Long story short, several long and difficult battles ensued. Eventually, problems were resolved as Fairy Tail discovered its long lost member hidden among the clouds. (Lisanna had gone missing, and presumed dead, for several years. She was also on a routine mission.) However, they lost one of their strongest workers, in order to preserve the tentative peace in the strange mirror world.

Thankfully for Gajeel, the Exceeds had tumbled down to Earthland along with the mages. Fairy Tail, though, had a long and tough time covering them up. Connections were reestablished and several favors had to be called in, with many of the more powerful mages working on that case. Cats were, apparently, very hard to catch.

And this had just ended nearly two weeks ago. The "clean up" process was well underway, but still in the beginning stages. This was what the Exceeds had been preparing for.

Actually, the cats had decided to meet on a whim the previous day when they realized that they would stay at school to keep an eye on their Dragon Slayers on the first day of school, instead of going back to the guild hall. Though Charle was more concerned than not, Happy just wanted to hang out with his best friend, and this was the next best thing. Lily's outlook was in the happy middle of the two.

"So C-charle," Happy stuttered.

"The master was talking to Mirajane. Something important, I suppose." Charle was a cat with vision. "I couldn't see much of anything else, but he seemed pretty serious."

"Hm…" Pantherlily said.

"We should tell the others, right?" Happy put in. The blue cat didn't like secrets. (The "fun" ones were a different story, of course.)

"If it concerns the guild, he would have told the rest of us."

"I don't know," Charle added. She looked away, bashful that she couldn't be of more help. "I think I saw some of the guild members in another vision, but I'm not sure."

"Charle…" Happy said sadly. "Would a fish make you feel better?"

"…"

"Not really, Happy."

"Okay."

"Do you think you could tell who it was in your vision," Pantherlily asked after a prolonged silence.

"No," the white cat replied.

There was another silence. All three felt awkward because they didn't know how to proceed, knowing that there was only so much cats in hiding could accomplish.


End file.
